The present invention relates generally to medical devices and pertains, more specifically, to a diagnostic spatula known more familiarly as a tongue depressor. In particular, the invention provides an improved tongue depressor which more effectively directs light to the area to be inspected aiding such inspection and facilitating examination.
Tongue depressors have been in use routinely in the examination of patients for a very long time. Despite efforts to develop and manufacture tongue depressors of other materials, by far the most commonly used tongue depressors are those constructed of wood. Suggestions for substituting a synthetic resin material for wood have been made but wood is still the preferred material and large numbers of wooden tongue depressors are consumed annually. In order to adequately inspect a patient's mouth and throat, the examiner normally must hold a light source in one hand while using the other hand to hold and manipulate the tongue depressor against the patient's tongue.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,599 discloses an illuminating tongue depressor which avoids the need for a separately held light source thereby allowing a one-hand operation for illuminated inspection of the particular area being examined. The tongue depressor includes a handle having a battery-operated light source and a depressor blade selectively coupled with or uncoupled from the handle for discard and replacement. The blade is constructed of a light-conducting synthetic resin material formed with a lateral arch along the axis of the blade to resist bending along the length thereof. The blade also includes a light-receiving surface at the proximal end thereof and a light-directing configuration at the distal end thereof for directing light conducted from the light source and projected from the distal end to a defined area to be inspected during use of the depressor in the examination of a patient. However, it has been found that, during use, as the depressor is pushed against the soft tissue of the patient's tongue, the light-directing configuration at the distal end becomes positioned in a recess of the tongue formed by the yielding of the tongue surface under the pressure of the depressor end. As a result, the light-directing configuration at the distal end is positioned slightly below the top surface of the tongue immediately adjacent the light-directing configuration. Consequently, the tongue portion in front of the distal end blocks the light emitted from the light-directing configuration thus interfering with the illumination of the area to be examined.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,344,419 and 4,996,976 disclose other forms of tongue depressors having a handle, a blade and an illuminating means attached to the blade for illuminating the region of a throat to be examined. These depressors include an illumination means, such as a lens or optical fibers, formed on the top surface of the blade to assist in directing the light. In both the '419 and the '976 references, the outermost portion of each blade, closest the area to be examined, is also used to transmit light. However, this outermost portion of the depressor is generally flat and, therefore, will often be positioned below the surface of the tongue preventing the effective utilization of the outermost illuminating edge of the blade.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,723,661 to Hull and U.S. Pat. No. 3,734,084 to Ousterhout disclose examples of conventional tongue depressors used to assist in the examination of a patient. The tongue depressor disclosed in the Hull patent includes a concave portion at one end which faces downwardly against the patient's tongue during use. The concave portion provides strength and rigidity to the depressor while conforming to the shape of the tongue thereby decreasing any slippage of the depressor. The tongue depressor disclosed in the Ousterhout patent includes a blade having a lower tongue-engaging surface including a longitudinally extending central groove for receiving an endotracheal tube. However, these tongue depressors do not include a light illuminating and directing portion to illuminate the particular area being examined. Therefore, these depressors require a separate additional light source and a means for effectively directing the light onto the inspection area of the patient.
Thus, there is a need for a simple and effective tongue depressor for providing sufficient tongue depression while simultaneously and effectively illuminating the particular area to be examined.